Unconditional Love
by TBIMH
Summary: At the end of the last season, Elena took off for Mexico. After a few months, Christopher has tracked her down and goes to see her.
1. Chapter 1

2014 Unconditional Love

Chapter 1

Even with the AC cranked up, it was still hot driving through the desert. Air conditioning in a rental car in Mexico was not much to begin with, but throw in 107 degrees of blinding sunlight, and it was all but worthless. Christopher again checked the directions thinking he must have missed the turn off, but there were still a few more miles to go. Bum had told him the place was in the middle of no where and he was not kidding.

Soon, a building appeared. Approaching it, he wondered if maybe he should have taken Bum up on his offer to come with him. "It's pretty rough—no country clubs or glass skyscrapers down there. I think it'd be better if two of us went, or better yet, three," he cautioned, pulling out a .34 caliber. Christopher blew him off. "I can take care of myself."

As per the directions, he pulled up to the call box. After stating he was there to see Elena Ramos, he noticed a sniper on the roof. "What the hell is this place?" he mumbled.

After answering several more questions through the microphone, two armed men looking like Federales in a B-movie, walked up and continued questioning him in broken English while relaying his answers in Spanish via cell phone. The out-of-place American looked around wondering where the cell towers were and why he had not had service since he left Mérida.

"Wait here," the one man said before the two guards returned to the crappy building. After realizing it would be a while and he was not going to be invited in out of the sun, Christopher returned to the car. Between the minimal amount of lukewarm air that was blowing around inside and the sun beating through the windshield, his lack of sleep caught up to him.

A car engine startled him. He opened his eyes to such a beautiful site, he did not know if it was a mirage or the real deal. Long tanned legs, highlights dancing off her hair like a halo, sun-kissed cheeks—a natural beauty. Dressed casually in white shorts and top, hair cascading down her back, and seemingly carefree, Elena looked like she had back in high school~pretty, sweet, full-of-life.

...  
Her heart jumped when Joaquin told her there was a "Christopher Ewing" at the gate for her. For months she vacillated between hating him while impatiently waiting to see the dumfounded expression on his face when she walked into the Barnes Global board room next month, and hoping he would come for her and beg her to finally marry him.

As Christopher approached, she detected a change beyond his unkempt appearance. Obviously a razor had not touched his face in weeks and she had not seen his hair that long since their college days, but there was something else. There was an uneasiness about him; his gait was awkward, his movements forced, over-thought. When he brushed the hair out of his eyes, the anxiety and stress radiated from him, and then he smiled. Her heart jumped again.

Always the gentleman, he helped her step down from the Jeep, although she clearly did not need assistance. Hesitantly, he gave her a hug that she returned with the same caution.

The smell of alcohol mixed with mouthwash was not a total surprise. Her mother had said that Christopher was rarely without a beer bottle or highball glass in his hand these days, but Elena assumed those were the exaggerated words of an emotionally-exhausted woman attempting to get her only daughter to return to Dallas. "Momma is just one more reason to be here, yet feel guilty about it," she had explained to Joaquin after one of many phone calls to her mother.

Before their reunion became more uncomfortable, Elena asked Christopher to pull his car into the garage, then she drove him to her new home.

tbimh copyright2014

Comments, reviews, private messages always appreciated!


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

An emotionally intense and upsetting conversation was inevitable, but Elena kept it at bay as long as possible by giving a tour of the property and serving lunch by the pool. After repeated apologies that she neither accepted nor rebuffed, Christopher became impatient and started barraging her with questions.

"Why are you down here, Elena?" "When are you coming home?" "Is Drew here?" "What does Joaquin have to do with this?"

Christopher had told himself that he needed to stay calm when he finally saw her, but his patience was thin these days, and her vague answers irritated him quickly.

"_'It's complicated,'_ isn't an answer, Elena."

Noticing her body tense up from the terse comment, he apologized, then continued in a less adversarial tone. "I'm confused. I know you were upset and I don't blame you, but I don't understand why you're _here_, or why you wanted to leave."

She gave an incredulous look. "Where would you like me to start? Six months ago when you shut me out of your life, or just a few months back when you kicked me out of Zürich?"

Still embarrassed by his actions, his cheeks flushed. "I am so sorry, Babe. I regret,_ very much regret_, yelling at you and telling you to leave.

"When I realized you had been in contact with Drew, I was hurt you lied to me, but when you said you saw him again that night and never told me~acted like you had no idea where he was~I saw red. I have never been so angry with you. I didn't want to talk to you or see you, or be anywhere near you, but I still should not have yelled at you or told you to leave."

Feeling a cold emotional distance come between them, he needed to be closer physically. He moved to sit on the chaise nearest her, put a hand on her knee and looked up into her dark eyes. "I'm so sorry."

"I know you are," she agreed with him. "When you get angry like that, you say the most cruel things to me, and I believe that you are sorry after you do it…just not sorry enough to not do it again, and again, and again."

It was not the reply he was expecting, and the surprise showed in his eyes and in his disjointed response.

"No, I would nev…Elena, Babe…I…I'm so sorry…I don't mean to…" Holding on to her hand, he leaned his head against her knee and was quiet for a few moments, thankful she did not jerk away. After gathering his thoughts, he looked up to see that Elena had also become emotional. Gently, he reached up and wiped away a tear from his love's cheek.

"I do not mean to take out my frustrations on you. Obviously, I have been because, you're right, I do blame you and accuse you of things when I get angry, but I swear, I don't mean the things I say." Assuming she would accept or, at least acknowledge his statement, he paused, but there was nothing.

"I have been so fucking angry about...well, _everything_," he continued to explain. "I try to keep it from you, but then I just explode."

"I never wanted you to keep things from me. It makes me feel shut out, like you don't want me around."

"I don't."

Now she was the one caught off guard. "What?"

"When I feel like that, I don't want you around," he confessed. "I don't want you to see that." Standing up, he paced a few steps back and forth before clarifying himself.

"Babe, communication has never been our strong suit. That's what got us in trouble in the first place~we didn't know how to ask the other what went wrong.

"Had you called me after getting that email, or if I had gone to Mexico when your mom told me you packed up and left, we wouldn't be here now." A sweet smile spread across his face before he added, "You and I would be in our own home arguing over whose turn it was to make dinner."

It coaxed a small laugh from her, but that was all.

"I won't make that mistake again. I came down here because I want you to come home, but I also want to know why you left, and why you ran to Joaquin, of all people."

"I needed to get away."

"But why come here?"

"I needed to be far from Dallas to sort things out, and I've known Joaquin since we were kids."

"We've known each other since we were kids," he countered, motioning between the two of them.

"I knew he would be here for me."

"I'm always here for you."

"I knew he wouldn't judge me."

The comment both shocked and incensed him. "Elena, I don't judge you."

"Yes, Christopher, you do," she countered, standing up to look him in the eye. "You judge everything I do and then give your verdict of whether or not to love me at that moment."

The accusation left him very defensive. "That is absolutely not true! A moment never goes by that I don't love you. Even with all we have been through these last 3 years, I never stopped loving you."

"Even when I gave my brother money so he could get out-of-town, then lied to you about it? Did you love me then?"

"Yes. I handled the situation terribly and was mad about it…" _Still am_, he thought, but decided that was better kept to himself. "…but I didn't stop being in love with you because of it. There is nothing you could ever do to make me not want to spend my life with you."

She was hesitant to respond, starting to speak then stopping a few times before finally spitting out, "Even if I accuse your family of hurting mine, for stealing from us? Will you still want to spend your life with me then?"

Much to Elena's dismay, Christopher's curiosity suddenly replaced his need prove his undying love. "What do you mean my family hurt and stole from yours?"

With a heavy sigh, Elena walked away.

Quickly, he was on her heels. "Yes, Elena, I love you no matter what. Obviously, I want you to be honest with me, but I wouldn't stop loving you if you felt there was a reason you couldn't be.

"I didn't realize I was taking everything out on you, or that you felt scrutinized, but now that I know, I'll stop, and if my family did do something to yours, then I will make it right."

After reaching the end of the piazza, she entered the house. "Elena, please stop."

When she did, he walked around to face her and took her hands in his.

"I flew down here to tell you that I love you; I always have and I always will. I will do whatever you want and fix whatever needs fixing for you to come home, but there is something you're not telling me. Please tell me what is wrong," he implored.

"There is always _something_ wrong between us."

"It wasn't always like that."

"Well, it is now," she surmised. "In the months before I left, not a day went by without something happening that led to you getting mad and cutting me out of your life."

"OK, I admit it was like that after the ba..." He closed his eyes. In the months since Pamela lost the pregnancy he had come to terms with what had happened, but still could not say the words without becoming angry.

"...after the explosion, but…" he drifted off not wanting to think about the aftermath of that horrible day. _They're gone_, he told himself, trying to refocus on Elena who was actually **in** his life.

"Babe, this is different for us; we never used to argue and I certainly never raised my voice to you~and I won't again, I swear. We can get back to where we used to be…back when we told each other everything and you knew I loved you no matter what."

She looked down and shook her head. "I don't know, Christopher. So much has happened between us and around us, I don't think we can ever get back to who we were, or how we felt about each other."

It was a knife to his heart. What was "wrong" was that her feelings toward him had changed. His eyes glazed over.

"If you're not in love with me, then, you're right, there's no going back, but don't throw away everything we have because you don't know my love for you is completely unconditional.

"There is nothing you could ever do to stop me from loving you, Elena Ramos."

Although her head was down, he could tell she was upset and reached out to hug her.

"Elena, I'm back." Joaquin called from the foyer.

Christopher rolled his eyes. "You have got to be kidding me," he mumbled.

_Oh, thank God_, Elena thought. _I_ _can't take this. I had my mind all made up that our relationship was over for the last time, and then Christopher shows up and I want him all over again. _

"We're in the family room. Come join us," she called back. **_Please_**_ come join us;_ _I need a break. _

_ 2014_

_Reviews, comments and private messages always appreciated!_


	3. Chapter 3

2014 Unconditional Love  
Chapter 3

Elena sat in the backseat staring through the heavily tinted windows. From her vantage point, she watched the employees of Barnes Global walk from their cars in the parking deck to the lobby of the massive skyscraper.

Taking note of an attractive couple walking hand-in-hand, she soon realized it was none other than Mr. and Mrs. John Ross Ewing III.

"If that's not a match made in hell, I don't know what is," she scoffed. "John Ross only married her to avenge his father's murder, while Pamela only married him to spite Cliff!" she informed her driver. "Too many Daddy issues for that marriage to work out. Besides, I think she still might be in love with Christopher."

Glancing up into the rear view mirror, she saw the insightful smile of a man who knew much more about the Barnes and Ewing families then he cared to. After a long pause, he excused himself to carry out the next step in their business venture.

Elena pulled out her phone. The text she wrote was still on the screen, and she re-read it for the 100th time.

…  
Christopher,  
You're a good person who should not be trapped between adversaries whose twisted sense of revenge knows no limits. I'm so sorry,  
P.S. I wish we could go home tonight and argue over whose turn it was to make dinner  
…

While pondering the implications of sending such a text moments before announcing she was the proxy for the Devil himself, a familiar voice echoed off the concrete walls. At a quick pace, Christopher was making his way through the parking garage while calling to the delivery woman that he would get the door for her. The two chatted for a moment, and then he gave one of his adorable smiles. Elena's heart jumped.

_Talk about Daddy issues, s_he chastised herself._ Do you see what have you thrown away in retaliation of your own father's untimely death? _

One of the more difficult things she ever did was send Christopher back to Dallas alone, as he had sworn he would not go without her. Her heart yearned to get on that plane and forget the last 3 years had ever happened, but only teenage girls could dream up such impossibilities and imagine them coming true. She had become much too cynical to brood over such nonsense. Now thirty-five, she surmised that using her brain instead of her heart to make decisions, could not possibly end with her devastated and lovesick, could it?

Surprisingly, the old friends had fun together throughout the four days he was there, as long as they steered clear of certain emotionally charged subjects: their relationship, Southfork, Ewing Energies, his Uncle Cliff (A.K.A. That Evil Son-of-a-bitch, as Christopher now referred to him), Joaquin's armed compound, and the reason for her sudden relocation. Such themes had dominated so much of her life for so long, the diversion was refreshing.

Together they explored Nuevo Laredo admiring the use of solar panels and wind turbines in the sustainable architecture, and took long walks pointing out plants and flowers that were native to the area. Christopher's Spanish was quite good by American standards, but she helped him with the local dialect and colloquialisms, while he taught her a few phrases in Mandarin. It felt like a bygone era, a time when she was untroubled, self-assured and content. It felt right.

When the dreaded topics were breached, however, their interactions ranged from not so calm to almost antagonistic. To Christopher's credit, he never yelled or became angry while with her (he went off alone more than once, however), but he certainly ran through a gamut of emotions, especially when she answered in ambiguous terms or flat-out refused to speak any further.

Elena could not be upset with him about it; all of those emotions he freely expressed was one of the things she loved about him. Christopher could not hide how he was feeling if he tried; his emotions were too powerful for that.

The inability to control his anger had always been an issue, but before returning from China, he had never directed it at her. Adoration, affection, and devotion were the sentiments he exuded for his first love. Mix those with his fierce intensity and passion ignited.

The car door opened, startling Elena out of her reverie.

"Ms. Ramos, it's time," her driver announced, putting out his hand to help her out of the limousine. "They're all in the board room."

Hesitantly, she nodded. Looking down at the text one last time, Elena closed her eyes, said a short prayer, and then clicked 'send.'

C2014tbimh

Review, comments and private messages are much appreciated!


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